[3] The pinyon jay was first collected, recorded, and first described as a species from a specimen shot along the Marias River in what is now northern Montana during the Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied expedition to the interior of North America in 1833.

[citation needed] A historical marker at LaHood Park on the Jefferson river in Montana, however, claims that the first pinyon jay known to science was seen and described by the Lewis and Clark Expedition at their campsite on this site on August 1, 1805.

[8] They winter throughout their breeding range and irregularly from southern Washington to northwestern Montana, and south to Mexico and central Texas.

When pinyon seed crops are poor,[9] pinyon jays may wander to central Washington, northwestern Oregon, northern Idaho, northwestern Montana, throughout the Great Basin, Nebraska, Kansas, central-western and southwestern California, southeastern Arizona, central Texas, and northern Chihuahua.

Good cone crops tend to be localized and occur at irregular and infrequent intervals but are geographically synchronous,[13] perhaps to counteract seed predation.

The annual mean precipitation in the pinyon-juniper woodlands of the southwestern United States varies widely, depending on elevation, topography, and geography.

Snow depths are not great, except at higher elevations and northern latitudes, but even then, melting occurs within a few days, especially on south-facing slopes.

[20] Pinyon jays have been noted foraging with Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) at elevations up to 11,500 feet (3,505 m) in northern Arizona.

[9] Pinyon-juniper woodlands occur in areas with a wide range of soils,[16][17] with parent materials composed of limestone, lava, and sandstone.

[17] Ponderosa pine forests in the western United States occur on igneous and sedimentary parent materials including basalt, volcanic cinder, limestone, and sandstone.

Sometimes the colony can cover quite extensive areas with a single nest in each tree (typically juniper, live oak or pine).

They spend most of their time searching for seeds to be eaten on the spot, hide in the ground, or store in a tree crevice to eat later.

Breeding may occur again in August based on the abundance of green Colorado pinyon cones and seeds, which stimulates and accelerates the growth of testes.

[13][25] Breeding activities from nest-building to the feeding of fledglings are related to the availability of conifer seeds and have been recorded for every month except December.

[9][23] A flock of 250 pinyon jays was studied in a ponderosa pine forest and adjacent pinyon-juniper woodland for 2.5 years near Flagstaff, Arizona.

[9] Nests are built in pinyon,[11] western juniper (J. occidentalis),[11] or ponderosa pine trees[11] and are composed of twigs and shredded bark.

Pinyon jays living in urban areas of Flagstaff, Arizona, were observed building their nests from trash, paper, and synthetic materials.

Nests were built an average height of 18.4 feet (5.6 m) off of the ground in ponderosa pine trees with large amounts of cover above.

For example, one study[26] concluded that pinyon jays learned to modify their nest site location based on prior experience.

Following at least 2 encounters with predators, pinyon jays learned to avoid building their nests in exposed areas of trees.

Some adult pinyon jays that were unsuccessful in their 1st and/or 2nd nesting attempts have been seen assuming a parental role for other young birds.

Because pinyon jays breed in loose colonies, a predator attuned to finding nests could potentially specialize on incubating or brooding females.

Breeding during late winter and early spring can produce fewer young that survive to maturity except in years following a major pinyon seed crop.

Breeding for the 2nd time in August or September may result in high mortality of nestlings if the weather deteriorates rapidly in the late fall.

Following a study of 2 pinyon jay flocks near Flagstaff, Arizona, Clark, and Gabaldon suggested that nest desertions by adults may be a response to low-temperature thermal stress of nestlings.

[9] Insects[13][23][27][30] such as caterpillar (Lepidoptera) larvae,[13] beetles (Coleoptera), grasshoppers (Orthoptera), and ants (Hymenoptera) make up a large portion of their diet.

Spiders (Araneae) [13] are commonly eaten, and cultivated grains [13][30] including corn, sorghum, beans, barley, oats, and wheat are consumed during winter months.

The benefits of interspecific flocking are probably for protection from predators during feeding and to assist in locating locally abundant but scattered food.

[10][13] Cached seeds provide energy for gonad development, courtship, nest building, egg laying and incubation.

Across the western United States, thinning, burning, and chemical treatments of pinyon-juniper woodlands have increasingly been employed to reduce wildfire risk or to improve the habitat for other species.